Metro East Sun

Pro-life advocates have identified Democratic state Rep. Katie Stuart (Edwardsville) as being a central figure in what they see as the misguided movement to “turn Illinois into the abortion capital of the country.”

According to the Thomas More Society, Senate Bill 25, also known as the Reproductive Health Act, would in its original form do everything from lift the ban on partial-birth abortions to eliminate all restrictions on where abortions can be performed and allow non-physicians to perform procedures. Co-sponsored by Stuart, the bill also establishes “the fundamental right” of a pregnant woman to have an abortion and states that “a fertilized egg, embryo or fetus does not have independent rights.”

With the blessing of Gov. J.B. Pritzker, after having already passed the House, the bill now heads to the Senate where the Chicago Tribune reports Pritzker has urged members to “take swift action.” Still, organizations like Thomas More and the Catholic Conference of Illinois are not giving up the fight.

State Rep. Katie Stuart (D-Edwardsville)

In a statement, former Republican state representative and current Thomas More Society vice president Peter Breen warned, “The legacy of any legislator who voted for this bill is a cruel dehumanization on a mass scale.”